There’s fast and then there’s ludicrously fast. So maybe it isn’t surprising that a motorcyclist who was arrested for riding at speeds up to 170 mph on a New York highway essentially said to officers after they caught up with him: I could’ve hit 190 if you hadn’t stopped me.

According to the Albany Times Union, the biker with the apparent bravado was Nikkolaus McCarthy, a 25 year-old whom officers had observed speeding on the New York State Thruway early Tuesday afternoon. A New York State Police press release noted that McCarthy was clocked at 166, 150 and 170 mph — such blistering speeds that police officers were only able to catch up with him 50 miles down the road from the initial speeding observation, when McCarthy’s bike was low on gas and he got stuck slower traffic. “There was no way we could catch him at that speed,” said police Sgt. Paul Swasey to the Times Herald-Record newspaper.

McCarthy was charged with fleeing police, reckless driving, speeding and riding without a motorcycle license. Bail was set at $20,000.